Sunday, July 31, 2011

Cedar Plank Salmon

Making fish on the grill is tough!  It sticks and burns and dries out easily.  But the charcoal flavor is terrific with any fish.  Here is the solution!  This is my favorite way to eat fish, and it's easy!

This fish is quick so it is great to either please a crowd or for a healthy dinner during the week.

The dry rub I use in the video is "Low Salt Cajun Rub" from Whole Foods.  There are also more traditional salmon rubs that have brown sugar in them, for a sweeter taste.  I like them both.

The video has more explanation than usual.  The down side is, it's longer.  So be ready to take some notes. Cedar planks are pretty easy to find.  I usually buy them in bulk when I find them. Try a "high end" grocery store, Price Club or even a building supply.  Otherwise, order them on the Internet.

The plank should soak in water for at least 30 minutes!

Planks can be reused a few times if you wash them off (no soap).  If you really want to get crazy, when they are "done" break them up and use as smoking chips.

If you do not have a charcoal grill:

Follow the recipe, but use an indirect cooking method on your gas grill.  If your gas grill has two burners, bring the grill up to a high temperature with both burners on.  Next, turn one burner off and place the plank over the extinguished burner, but as close to the lit burner as possible.  Everything else is the same as in the video.  If your gas grill has three burners, same technique, but turn off the middle burner and place the plank in the middle.  I'm unaware of a gas grill with one burner, but if that is your situation...  get a new grill!

I think I'm getting better speaking on camera, but it's still a bit dry.  I'll work on it.  I also wore a shirt!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Aged Steaks - Prime Rib (bone in) Father's Day 2011

Like many of you, I get to pick my favorite meal on Father's Day.  I choose aged Prime Rib.  Ask your butcher if he will age meat for you (if you don't have a butcher, find one).  When I buy a prime rib, I always get the whole piece.  That way, I can have it cut into whatever sizes we need and the leftovers freeze really well for a rainy day.  

Aged meat has a great nutty flavor.  If you go to a great steakhouse like Peter Luger or Wolfgang's you will recognize the taste.  If you live somewhere with no great steakhouses, that stinks.  All the more reason to seek out aged meat. For spice, I just rub them with a little olive oil and then liberally salt (kosher or sea) and pepper.  Generally, I don't use a lot of salt but these steaks are big, and what the heck...  it was Father's Day.



Saturday, July 23, 2011

Summer 2011 Burgers

A few notes:

-Stew ground "chuck" to make the burger meat. It's about 80% lean (really, that's not so lean).

-The end result has on top: cheese, caramelized onions, bacon, avocado, and spicy ketchup.

-These burgers are cooked rare.  Medium rare is acceptable.  If you want your burger cooked more than that, I'm sure there is a Wendy's close by.

Who Likes Mussels?

These rock.  And they only take five minutes to make.  Just mix the mussels with chopped garlic (1/2 cup), parsley (1 bunch), olive oil (1/4 cup), throw on a super hot pan or in a pot, and sprinkle with white wine (1/2 bottle).  Watch out! The wine will make a big plume of steam. Immediately cover, and wait a few minutes for the mussels to open.  As soon as they are open, they are done. Dump them into a bowl and serve.  A few mussels might not open.  They might be bad, so chuck them.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Blog Trailer

Bits and pieces of the my summer blog.  This is serious business.

Paella on the grill

Rocco and I made Paella a while back.  It's tough to time the rice to be done at the same time the clams open.

Stew the Butcher

If you need good meat, call Stew.  What you see in the picture is a Prime Rib aged 30 days, that Stew just cut into steaks.  I grilled the steaks on Father's Day. 

http://www.monmouthmeats.com/index.html

Tomatoes I picked last night

The orange tomatoes are "tie dye".  When you slice them, the cross section looks like a tie dye shirt. Here is where I ordered the tomato plants from.

http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/tomatoes/slicer/tomato-tye-dye-hybrid-prod001022.html